Power Hungry American

I have tried to show some of the super cool things about living in Italy, Ferrara in general, in this blog, but not everything is as sweet as the smell of basil in the sunshine.  It is nearly eleven in the morning here and I have fifteen household balls in the air.  I bake cakes, so I have one in the oven and a second cued up for entry.  I made a lot of dishes assembling these cakes so the dish washer was in use, as was the washer.  Last night I cut Rex’s hair because froes on big headed white kids aren’t really that cute. When I got my first load of wash out I went to hang it to dry as normal and noticed little bits of Rex’s hair were sprouting from my freshly washed wears.  Because of this I allowed myself the indulgence of the drier.  Generally I do ten to twelve loads of laundry a week.  It sounds like a lot, but we have a European washer that holds roughly a set of single sheets.  Not so big.  Electricity costs a load here so I took to hanging all the clothes as a way to keep the power bill in check.  (The ceilings are over ten feet tall.  I need those utility dollars for the gas heating.)  Got to tell you, I love having the washing machine up-stairs where the clothes and bedding are naturally dirtied.  Makes so much sense. 

Since the cake was baking, the next cake cued, the laundry washing with a second load drying in my energy conscious vent free dryer (Instead of an exhaust tube, it collects the moisture in a little plastic reservoir ), I thought I could knock out the ironing while frying my brain with a little day time TV.  I settled on America’s Next Top Model mostly because I LOVE that show for no good reason and Husband would rather make out with Medusa than watch. I brewed a whole pot of coffee just for me and settled in.  Perfect.  I was doing all my crappy chores and still managed to feel a bit spoiled. 

That is when the power went out.  Well, it is Friday the 13th, but the power goes out here way too frequently reguardless of date.  Most of the time it is something in the house that pops one of our two circuit breakers for this monster.  The Italian lifestyle is a lot less fossil fuel hungry than the American.  Their top allotted power draw is significantly lower than that of the average American household.  That is why when we arrived we got a slight elevator added to our consumption, allowing us to pull more power than a typical Italian Household.  Still, we pop the circuits on occasion.  Today amazingly even with all the crap I was running, it wasn’t my circuit breaker that popped.  It was just the power going out.  Happens. 

Ever hear of a half baked idea?  Just as effective as a half baked cake.  If the temp in my European sized (think Easy Bake) oven drops three more degrees, the cake will not be salvageable when the power comes back on.  Time be damned, that cake has about fifteen Euros worth of ingredients in it. 

Since we have a consumption elevator, we have added a sort of cantina in our basement.  There is an American sized fridge AND a deep freeze all with European wiring.  This has been great for us because we have been able to drive a couple hours to an American style store, stock up, and resist change and complete integration.  What?  Sometimes you want to make tacos…or a turkey…or an American ham.  Try buying Rotel in town, I double dog dare you!  Last year we went to Garmish, Germany for a ski get away/work trip.  Even though we went around and unplugged just about everything, the power went out.  No idea when it happened, but it did.  A European fidge/ freezer full, an American frige/freezer full, a deep freeze full…total loss…way more than fifteen Euros worth of ingredients there!

I have been enjoying my break from domestic goddess-ness to blog.  I just went to release the two cups of coffee I consumed, and well, I walked in to the restroom and tried to turn on the light.  Man.  Twenty minutes of writing about the power being out and I tried to turn on the lights.  Really. 

My time may be running thin.  The power seems to have just kicked back on.  Good thing too – my coffee was getting cold.  The cake amazingly is baked to perfection!   Good job Easy Bake oven!  I need to bang on the oven’s dials for a while until I get the clock to set.  The oven will not produce heat if the clock isn’t set.  Silly Italian oven.  Silly Kelly for never figuring out the setting sequence. 

Any of you all who fantasize about “the good old days”, I’ll take the clothes, but leave you the rest!  I like washing machines, internet access, and America’s Next Top Model.